Jimmy T’s post opens our eyes to how important it is to be alert to the opportunities for upgrading our buildings. Planning a new kitchen or bathroom in your apartment and dreaming of the rewards from resale is easy – planning what is necessary to move your building upmarket is a lot harder and, unless you do it, that extra investment in your apartment may not pay off.

Strata Committees struggle to get owners to understand the need for proper maintenance let alone get them enthused by visions of something better, but buildings get tired and what was top of the market ten years ago may look very dated in the face of what’s on the market today.

The price of doing nothing to upgrade your building is definitely not nothing. Keep your vision alive and, if you don’t have the funds, think seriously about a strata loan for your building; the borrowing process is very simple and whilst rates may be more than what you are used to paying on your mortgage, the loan can be paid off from levies over the next 7 years. Those owners who benefit from the increase in value from a smart new lobby or revitalised façade will be those paying off the loan via their levies – seems pretty to fair to us.
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